“I had an awful job starting it so I took it to Vauxhall in Sloper Road and they said the wires had been bitten through.

“The chap there said it was nice and warm in there. They get up on the wires and gnaw them.”

Mr Williams’ car, parked on his drive, has suffered two rat attacks in the space of seven days and he is concerned the rodents will strike again.

The former plumber at Ely hospital called out the council’s pest controllers who put poison in his rear garden. His car is back in for repairs, this time at Fordthorne, Penarth Road, leaving the father of two and grandfather of six housebound.

He believes the rodents come from a nearby disused furniture warehouse and a railway line that runs behind his house.

“I’m frightened they are going to get into the house and bite me,” he said.

Mr Williams, who is recovering from bowel cancer and has asthma, arthritis and heart problems, will have to fork out the £75 for this repair and more if the rodents strike a third time.

“I don’t know what to do about it,” he added.

Dean Jefferies, assistant service manager at Fordthorne, Penarth Road, Cardiff, said rats and mice could cause serious damage to cars.

He said: “They can cause electrical failure in today’s modern systems.”

A spokeswoman for Cardiff Council said it was likely the rats were coming from the railway line.

She said: “There are some warehouses in the vicinity but they are being demolished. Bait laid in the rear garden has been taken and a further visit is due to take place in the next couple of days to check on the situation.”